“A computer hacker admitted Thursday to writing code that was used to breach AT&T Inc.’s servers last year and gather email addresses and other personal information of about 120,000 users of Apple Inc.’s iPad,” Chad Bray reports for The Wall Street Journal.

“Daniel Spitler, 26 years old, a computer hacker from San Francisco, pleaded guilty to identity theft and conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers. He faces up to five years in prison on each count,” Bray reports. “Sentencing is set for Sept. 28.”

“He and another hacker, Andrew Auernheimer, were arrested in January and accused of creating a program that attacked AT&T’s servers over several days in June 2010,” Bray reports. “Federal prosecutors in Newark, N.J., alleged they exploited a flaw in AT&T’s website, which made it possible for iPad users’ email addresses to be revealed. The email addresses they accessed included those of corporate chiefs, U.S. government officials and Hollywood moguls.”

Bray reports, “Mr. Auernheimer, 25, is engaged in plea negotiations, according to a letter filed last month with the court by his lawyer and prosecutors.”

On the other hand, the fact that important names appear in the list of hacked accounts, is merely a consequence of more affluent people being early adopters of such groundbreaking (and luxury — not for long, though) items as iPads.